1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic analyzing system and also to an analyzing method which makes use of this system. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with an automatic analyzing system and method in which, though not exclusively, a plurality of kinds of reagents corresponding to a plurality of measurement items are prepared on a reagent table and are successively supplied into reaction vessels on a reaction table so as to cause reactions between samples and the respective reagents thereby automatically analyzing the samples.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An analyzing system of the above-mentioned type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50-70085. This system includes reaction, sample and reagent disks all arranged separately from each other. The system also has a plurality of reaction vessels arranged on the reaction disk and corresponding to different measurement items. In operation, the samples and the reagents are supplied to the reaction vessels by means of pipetting mechanisms which are prepared independently for the samples and the reagents. Namely, a pipetting mechanism is used exclusively for the transfer of the samples, and another pipetting mechanism is used exclusively for the reagents. In order to increase the number of the items to be checked, this known system employs an independent pipetting mechanism for the single reagent disk. When two types of reagents, e.g., a first reagent and a second reagent, are dispensed on a single reagent disk, the reagent disk needs two pipetting systems. In consequence, the arrangement is complicated and the cost of production of the system is raised correspondingly. In addition, the analyzing operation with this system is very laborious and time-consuming.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-217163 discloses another automatic analyzing system. This automatic analyzer has a sample table having sample vessels and a reaction table coaxial with the sample table. The system also has first and second reagent tables which are disposed on different axes spaced from the common axis of the sample table and the reaction table. In consequence, this system requires that the sampling pipette devices operate independently for the samples, i.e. the first reagent and second reagent, with the results that the system becomes complicated in construction and large in size and that the production cost is raised correspondingly. In addition, the analyzing operation is time-consuming as in the case of the system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 50-50085.